Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council has been given a clean bill of health by an ombudsman who was looking into a series of complaints levelled against the local authority.

Investigations into 14 complaints from people unhappy with the council have not been upheld by the independent Local Government Ombudsman.

The complaints are understood to have included dissatisfaction with housing and getting benefits paid, plus more generalised gripes about the workings of the council and its front office.

The ombudsman?s report stated that two cases were settled locally, three were described as ?premature? and the rest were either dismissed or found to be outside the ombudsman?s remit.

Commenting on the report, council leader Dennis Harvey said: ?I am pleased to note that all complaints, where investigations have been completed by the Ombudsman, have been settled and there have been no cases of maladministration by the council.

?The council does pride itself in the fact that the vast majority of people are happy with the services they receive, but recognises that people do have the right to complain and seek an independent review of that complaint.

?I am delighted that the number of formal complaints remains very small, and this is testament to the hard work of our employ-ees and councillors who seek to provide the best level of service at all time.?

He promised that if the council did make a mistake then an apology would be made, before action was taken to improve its service and ensure the problem was not repeated.

The ombudsman only investigates complaints when all of the borough council?s internal complaints procedures have been exhausted.